Taylor Swift
| Origin = Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, USA | Instrument = guitar, vocals | Genre = Country | Occupation = Singer-songwriter | Years_active = 2006–Present | Label = Big Machine Records | Associated_acts = Miranda Lambert, Kellie Pickler, Danielle Peck | URL = Taylor Swift Official Site }} Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American country music singer-songwriter. In 2006, she has her first hit at the young age of 16, called "Tim McGraw", about a summer love. Since then, she has risen to fame as a successful teenage star, and is also an Internet sensation. She won CMT's "Breakthrough Video of the Year" award in 2007 for her hit "Tim McGraw", and was also nominated by the Academy of Country Music for "Top Female Vocalist". Biography Early years Taylor Swift was born in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania in 1989. She had musical influences in her life from an early age, as her maternal grandmother was a professional opera singer and was one of her key inspirations in her musical career. At the age of ten, Swift began to perform around her hometown, singing at karaoke contests, festivals, and fairs. Her first exposure to the music business consisted of recording demo tapes at a studio. When Swift was eleven, she sang the national anthem at a Philadelphia 76ers game. At twelve, she gained interest in the guitar and began to write songs. During this time she also took trips with her family to Nashville, Tennessee, to perform her music. When she was thirteen she wrote one song per day. In Nashville she wrote songs with local songwriters. The family decided to move to an outlying Nashville suburb. This helped accelerate Swift's career. Today, Taylor Swift is very grateful for all her success in the country music industry. When she performed at a local restaurant called the Bluebird Café, she caught the attention of Scott Borchetta. Scott wanted to put her on his new label, Big Machine Records. Country Music Stardom Swift's first single, "Tim McGraw", was released to radio in Summer of 2006. The video debuted in July 2006 on Great American Country. On October 24, 2006, her self-titled CD was released. The CD, on which Swift wrote or co-wrote all of the songs, peaked at #19 on the sales charts and sold more than 61,000 during its first week. The song "Tim McGraw" peaked at #6 on the chart week of January 27, 2007. The video set a record by appearing for 30 consecutive weeks on GAC's fan-voted weekly Top 20 music countdown show , and the video reached #1 on CMT's video charts. "Tim McGraw" helped to make Swift into a teenage country music star, along the lines of Brenda Lee, Tanya Tucker, Marie Osmond, and LeAnn Rimes. Since her success, she has appeared on "Good Morning America" and at the 2006 Academy of Country Music Awards. She also won "Breakthrough Video of the Year" on the 2007 CMT Music Awards with "Tim McGraw". Her pursuit of country music stardom was the subject of "GAC Short Cuts", a part-documentary, part-music video series airing since the summer of 2006 on the country music channel Great American Country. Swift sang the national anthem at the November 12, 2006 NASCAR race and at the November 23, 2006 Thanksgiving Day football game between the Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions, as well as performing at halftime at a Pittsburgh Steelers game. She appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on February 13, 2007, where she performed her single, "Tim McGraw." She has gone on tour as an opening act for Rascal Flatts and George Strait. On May 15, 2007, Swift performed her song "Tim McGraw" at the Academy of Country Music Awards. She sung the song to Tim McGraw in the audience, and introduced herself for the first time to him. Discography Albums Singles ACurrent single. Awards *CMT Music Awards **2007, Breakthrough Video of the Year: Tim McGraw (Won) *Academy of Country Music Award ** 2007, Top New Female Vocalist: Nominated (Lost To Miranda Lambert) References External links *Taylor Swift Official Website *Taylor Swift Review at UnRatedMagazine.com *Taylor Swifts Official Myspace Category:1989 births Category:American female singers Category:American country singers Category:Living people Category:American child singers Category:People from Berks County, Pennsylvania Category:Pennsylvania musicians Category:Country music songwriters Category:American country singer-songwriters